1. I bow down to that Pure
Consciousness Divine – a shoreless ocean of happiness, which is
All-pervading (Vishnu), the Beloved of Shri, the all-knowing Lord of the
Universe, assuming endless forms and yet ever-free, having an
inscrutable power to become (apparently) the Cause of creation,
maintenance, and dissolution of the universe.

2. Again and again I Prostrate at the
feet of my Guru, by whose grace I have come to realise, “I alone am the
All-pervading Essence (Vishnu)”, and that “the world of multiplicity is
all a super-imposition upon myself.”

3. Scorched by the blazing sun of the
three miseries, a student – dejected with the world and restless for
release, having cultivated all the means of liberation especially such
virtues as self-control etc. – enquires of a noble teacher:

4. “Merely out of your grace and mercy,
holy Teacher, please explain to me briefly the means by which I may
easily get liberated from the sorrows of this bondage-to-change”.

5. The teacher said: “Your question is
valid, and so very clearly expressed, I shall answer it exhaustively to
make it as vivid to you as though you are seeing it near”.

6. Direct knowledge of that total
identity between the individual-Self and the Universal-Self, stemming
forth from the Vedic statements such as “Thou art that”, etc., is the
immediate means to liberation.

7. The disciple said: “What is the
individualised Self ? What, then, is the Universal Self ? How can they
both be identical ? And, how can statements like “That thou art” discuss
and prove this identity ?”

8. The teacher said: “I shall answer
your question. Who else can be the individual Self (Jiva) other than
yourself, that asks me this question, “Who am I ?”. There is no doubt
about it. You alone are the Brahman.

9. The disciple said: Not even the word
meaning do I fully grasp clearly; how can I then comprehend the
significance of the sentence, “I am Brahman” ?

10. The teacher said: “You have said
the truth when you complained that the knowledge and understanding of
the meaning of the words employed in a sentence are indeed the cause of
the understanding of the full significance of the sentence. And there
are no two opinions about it.”

11. “Why do you not recognise your own
Self, which is an embodiment of Eternal Bliss-Essence, the Witnessing
Light that illumines the inner equipments and their functions ?”
12. “Give up the intellectual misconception that the Self is the body,
etc., and always meditate upon and think yourself to be the eternal
Knowledge-Bliss – the Witness of the intellect – a sheer mass of Pure
Knowledge”.

13. “The body is not the Self, as like
the pot, etc., the body also has form, etc., and again, the body is a
modification of the great elements such as Akash, just like the pot”.

14. The disciple said: “If, by the
strength of these arguments, the gross-body is considered as “not-Self”,
then please exhaustively explain and directly indicate the Self – as
clearly as a fruit in hand”.

15. The teacher said: “Just as the
perceiver of a pot is ever distinctly different from the pot and can
never be the pot – so too, you, the perceiver of your body, are distinct
from your body and can never be the body – this you firmly ascertain in
yourself.”

16. “Similarly be sure in yourself that
you, the seer of the senses, are not the senses themselves, and
ascertain that you are neither the mind, not the intellect, not the
vital air (Prana).”

17. “Similarly be sure that you are not
the complex of the gross and the subtle-bodies, and intelligently
determine, by inference, that you, the ‘seer’, are entirely distinct
from the ‘seen’.”

18. “’I am He’, the One because of
whose presence alone the inert entities like the body and the senses,
are able to function through acceptance and rejection”.

19. “’I am He’, the One changeless,
Innermost Self that moves the intellect, etc., as a magnet does the iron
filings.”

20. “’I am He’, the One Entity in whose
vital presence the body, senses, mind, and Pranas, though inert in
themselves, appear to be conscious and dynamic, as though they are the
Self.”

21. “‘He am I’, the One Consciousness,
which is the Self that illumines the modifications in my mind such as
‘my mind went elsewhere, however, it has been brought to rest now’, –
‘He am I’ (So’ham).”

22. “’He am I’, the One Consciousness
which is the Changeless Self that is directly cognised, that illumines
the three states of waking, dream, and deep-sleep, and that which
illumines appearance and disappearance of the intellect and its
functions – ‘He am I’ (So’ham).”

23. “Know yourself to be the One Self,
a homogenous mass of Consciousness, which is the illuminator of the body
and therefore quite distinct from it – just as a lamp that illumines a
pot is always different from the pot illumined. ‘I am a mass of
Consciousness’ (Aham bodhavigraha).”

24. “Know yourself to be the One for
whose sake beings and things such as children and wealth – are dear, who
is the sole seer and dearest of all. ‘He am I’ – ascertain thus and
realise, So’ham.”

25. “Know yourself to be the One
regarding whom there is always the anxiety, ‘May I ever be; never cease
to be’, as this Seer is the dearest of all. ‘He am I’ – thus assert and
realise.”

26. “The Consciousness, the Self, which
appears as the Witness, is that which is meant by the word ‘thou’. Being
free from all changes even the witnessing is nothing but the
illumining-power of the Self.”

27. “Totally distinct from body,
senses, mind, Prana and Ego is that which is the Self; therefore, It is
absolutely free from the six-modifications, which all material things
must necessarily undergo. This Self is the indicative meaning of the
term “thou”.

28. “Having thus ascertained the
meaning of the term “thou” one should reflect upon what is meant by the
word “that” – employing both the method of negation and also the direct
method of scriptural assertion.”

29. “’That’, which is free from all the
impurities of the Samsara, ‘that’ which is defined by the Upanishads as:
‘Not large etc., having the qualities of imperceptible etc., that is
beyond all darkness created by ignorance”.

30. “Having no greater Bliss than
Itself, a pure embodiment of External Consciousness, and having
‘existence’ for its specific definition, is the All-Pervading Being – is
the meaning indicated by the term ‘that’; so, the scriptures declare in
their songs.”

31. “That which is proved in the Vedas
as All-knowing, All-powerful and Supreme Lord, is Itself the Infinite
Brahman… make sure of that Brahman in your own understanding.”

32. “That which the scriptures have
discussed through examples of mud etc., as that by knowing which all
else will become known … make sure of that Brahman in your
understanding.”

33. “That which the scriptures propose
to prove as a limitless, and in order to support that proposition,
called the World of Plurality as Its effects .. make sure of that
Brahman in your understanding.”

34. “That which the Upanishads clearly
establish as the sole object of deep contemplation for those who are
sincere seekers of liberation – make sure of that Brahman in your
understanding.”

35. “That which is heard of in the
Vedas ‘as having entered each creature as its individualised self’, and
which is known, from the same sources, to be their controller – make
sure of that Brahman in your understanding.”

36. “That which the Upanishads declare
as the sole paymaster for all action, and as the very agent (prompter)
in all actions, performed by each individualised ego – make sure of that
Brahman in your understanding.”

37. “The meaning of the terms ‘that’
and ‘thou’ have been discussed and finally determined. Now we shall
discuss the meaning of the commandment (Mahavakya) ‘That thou art’. In
this, the total identity of the meanings of ‘that’ and ‘thou’ alone is
shown.”

38. “What is meant by the sentence
(commandment ‘That thou art’) is not arrived at, either through its
‘sequence-of meaning’ or as ‘qualified-by-something’. An indivisible
Being, consisting of Bliss only – this alone is the meaning of the
sentence, according to the wise.”

39. “What appears (anjati) as the
Witnessing-Consciousness within, (the individual-Self), is of the nature
of Bliss, One-without-a-second; and the one that is the Bliss within is
none other than the individualised-Self the Witnessing Consciousness
within.”

40. “When, as explained above, the
mutual identity between the two words ‘thou’ and ‘that’ is comprehended,
then the idea ‘I am not Brahman’, entertained by ‘thou’, shall
immediately end.”

41. “If as said, the depth-meaning of
the term ‘that’ is ‘Mass-of Bliss, without-second’, and ‘thou’ is the
‘Witnessing-Consciousness’, then what ? Listen: the Inner-self, the
Consciousness, that illumines all thoughts, remains as the All-full,
One-Mass-of Bliss, without-a-second.”

42. “The great statements, like ‘That
thou art’, established the identity of what is meant by the two terms
‘thou’ and ‘That’ in their deeper indicative-meaning.”

43. “How great statement discards the
two qualified-meanings, and reveals what it really means – this we have
carefully commented upon already.”

44. ‘That which shines, as the object
of the idea and the word ‘I’, is Consciousness expressing in the inner
equipments. This is the direct word-meaning of ‘thou’ (twam).”
45. “The Consciousness that is expressed through Maya, which then
becomes the ‘cause of the Universe’, which is described as omnipresent,
etc.; that which is known only indirectly (meditate); and which is
having the nature of existence, etc., -- that Eswara is the word-meaning
of the term ‘That’.”

46. “In case we insist upon the
identity of ‘that’ and ‘thou’ based upon the word-meaning of these
terms, then for one and the same factor we will have to attribute
contrary nature; the quality of being mediately and immediately known –
and also insist qualities of ‘existence of duality’ and also of
‘absolute oneness’, for one and the same factor. Identity between such
contrariness is impossible hence suggestive-meaning, ‘explanation by
implication’ has to be accepted.”

47. “If the direct word-meaning throws
up an inconsistency with what is pointed out by other proofs and
evidences, the sense consistent with its word-meaning that is
intelligently suggested by the term, is to be accepted – and this is its
suggestive-meaning (lakshana).”

48. “In the statements like ‘that thou
art’ etc., the reject-accept method is to be employed as in the sentence
‘He is this man’. No other method can be applied.”

49. “Until the direct personal
experience of ‘I am Brahman’ is gained, we must live values of
self-control, etc., and practice listening to teachers, or reading
scriptures, and doing daily reflection and meditation upon those ideas.”

50. “Through the grace of a spiritual
teacher when a seeker gains a clear and direct experience of the Supreme
Self as expounded in the scriptures, he, the realised, becomes free from
all ‘ignorance’, which is the foundation for the entire experience of
this world of plurality.”

51. “No more conditioned by his gross
and subtle bodies, free from the embrace of the gross and subtle
elements, released from the charm of actions, such a man gets
immediately liberated.”

52. “The liberated-in-life, due to the
compelling force of those actions that have begun to produce their
results (Prarabdha), remains for some time to exhaust them”.

53. “The liberated-in-life comes to
gain the State of Absolute Oneness, the never-ending immeasurable Bliss,
called the Supreme Abode-of-Vishnu, from wherein there is no return.”

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This site is devoted
to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of
the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways,
while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or
practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in
direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the
Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute
Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the
Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the
intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which
complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the
classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well
as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra
Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge
into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the
pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.